This application is a U.S. national application of international application serial No. PCT/GB00/00408 filed Feb. 9, 2000, which claims priority to Great Britain Patent Application No. 9902740.1 filed Feb. 9, 1999.
The invention relates to a soil cultivating apparatus, particularly for use in arable cultivation.
Traditional ploughing of land for cultivation is increasingly being replaced by soil cultivating devices which include discs and tines etc. Normally, several operations are required in order to prepare a field for drilling with seed for the following season. Each operation requires a further pass over the field which can disturb the effect of the previous operation and also increases the unit cost of arable production in terms of fuel usage and farmer""s time. Particularly in places with unpredictable weather conditions the requirements for several operations to be conducted on a field prior to seed drilling may, due to inclement weather, put back the date at which the ground can be planted with seed.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved form of soil cultivating apparatus.
According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a soil cultivating apparatus comprising a chassis, a first disc gang carried by the chassis, a soil consolidating means comprising a roller carried on an axle on the chassis arranged behind the first disc gang, the roller comprising a resilient material and being arranged to consolidate the surface of the soil and a second disc gang arranged behind the soil consolidating roller.
In that way the second disc gang operates in optimum conditions attacking firmed soil.
Preferably, the soil consolidating roller comprises a plurality of wheels, having tyres of resilient material.
In a preferred embodiment, the tyres are rubber tyres.
According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a soil cultivating apparatus comprising a chassis, a first disc gang carried by the chassis, a soil cultivating means comprising a press carried on an axle on the chassis arranged behind the first disc gang and a second disc gang arranged behind the soil consolidating press, the press comprising a plurality of press rings, each press ring having two spaced-apart faces, a circular peripheral rim between the faces and having a larger diameter than the faces, and smooth sinusoidially-curved surfaces between the respective faces and the rim, the rim being arranged to act into the subsurface of the soil while the curved surfaces consolidate the surface of the soil.
Ground engaging tines may be provided, preferably arranged between the first disc gang and the soil consolidating roller.
Preferably the disc gangs and soil consolidating roller are arranged substantially symmetrically about the longitudinal axis of the chassis.
According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a soil cultivating apparatus comprising a chassis, a first disc gang carried by the chassis, a row of ground-engaging tines carried by the chassis arranged behind the first disc gang, soil consolidating means carried by the chassis arranged behind the row of tines and a second disc gang carried by the chassis arranged between the soil consolidating means.
In that way all of the operations required to cultivate the soil and subsoil can be achieved in a single pass. The first disc gang is operating in firm soil conditions, which is the preferred form of operation of discs, to incorporate into the soil surface the remains of the previous years crop. The ground engaging tines, which are arranged behind the first disc gang cultivate the subsoil to provide a beneficial drainage profile for the soil. The soil consolidating means consolidates the soil surface which has been loosened by the first disc gang and tines so that the second disc gang can also operate in a firmed soil profile to complete the cultivation process.
Preferably the disc gangs, tines and soil consolidating means are arranged substantially symmetrically about the longitudinal axis of the chassis.
The first disc gang may comprise two rows of discs, one each side of the longitudinal axis of the chassis, arranged transverse to the longitudinal axis. The second disc gang may be arranged in similar fashion.
The first disc gang is preferably arranged so that the outermost disc of each row lies forwardly of the innermost disc. In such a case, the second disc gang may be arranged so that the outermost disc of each row is arranged rearwardly of each respective innermost disc. In that way, the soil being cultivated is thrown outwardly of the longitudinal axis of the chassis by the first disc gang and returned inwardly by the second disc gang leaving a level soil profile.
The tines may be moveable from a ground engaging position to a position clear of the ground. In a preferred embodiment the tines may be set to variable heights between the ground engaging position and the position clear of the ground. In that way different levels of sub soil cultivation can be achieved. The movement may be effected individually or as a set. Preferably the tines are moveable automatically in response to an obstruction and in such a case a sensor is preferably provided for sensing when the tines have met an obstruction, for example a large submerged stone or an area of particularly consolidated soil. Additionally, the tines may be moveable by the operator of the soil cultivating apparatus, for example where no sub soil cultivation is required.
The soil consolidating means preferably comprises a roller carried on an axle on the chassis. The roller may comprise a plurality of rubber tyred wheels arranged on the axle. Alternatively, the roller may comprise a press cultivator having a plurality of press rings. Most preferably the press cultivator employs press rings of the type shown in our co-pending British Application Number 9813497.6 and European Patent Application Number 98304976.8.
A further press cultivator may be arranged behind the second disc gang, either carried by the chassis or as a separate piece of apparatus.
The soil cultivating apparatus may be 6 meters in width and other widths are envisaged, for example 3 meters and 4.5 meters.